LSU Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini Shares Thoughts on 2020 Tigers Defense

It's hard to imagine that freshman sensation Derek Stingley Jr. could just be scratching the surface of his immense potential. After all, his freshman campaign is one that is hard to come by with 38 tackles, six interceptions and 15 passes defended that earned him first-team All-American honors.

He's one of if not the top returning defensive player in the country in 2020 yet LSU's new defensive coordinator Bo Pelini doesn't think Stingley has come close to how good he can be.

"I think he's a great player, I think he's got a lot of room for growth and I think he's going to keep getting better," Pelini said Wednesday on Hangin’ With Hester. "He's a wonderful kid first of all and he's not one of those guys that's going to rest on his laurels.

"I think he has only scratched the surface of how good he’s going to be. He is one of those guys that has such unusually good ball skills. He can play the ball. That is rare this day and age. There are a lot of kids, even guys on Sunday, people struggle to play the football from the defensive back position. He does that as good as any guy I have seen in a long, long time."

In a rare interview on Wednesday's addition of the Baton Rouge radio show, Pelini stopped by to talk about the various position battles and what he's seen in the early stages from his 2020 defense that oozes talent. Since Pelini was hired back in late January, a switch from a 3-4 defense to the 4-3 was imminent.

It's the style that coach Ed Orgeron, being a defensive line minded coach, always preferred and with the talent LSU has up front, best fits this roster. Pelini said the No. 1 job that he as a defensive coordinator has is to put his players in positions to succeed, regardless of scheme.

"In the end, you kind of have to do what your players do best," Pelini said. "It's not about the scheme, it's about enabling your players to do the things that they do best. Being more detailed, being on point and playing as a team, there's a lot of things that go into that."

The most important component of a 4-3 defense is that the front line finds ways to put consistent pressure on the quarterback. Pelini thinks he has the requisite players to have that success in 2020, starting with nose tackle Tyler Shelvin.

"I love those guys, I think Tyler can be as good as he wants to be," Pelini said. "I think he's a really talented kid and there are times when you see that No. 72 and he reminds you of [Glenn] Dorsey, but he's probably about 70 pounds bigger than Glenn was at that point. I'm hoping we'll have a lot more effective four man rush which will open up more avenues inside for those guys like Tyler to really push the pocket."

There are multiple players that Pelini thinks will thrive in LSU's defense in 2020 but the one that came to mind was senior safety JaCoby Stevens. After a breakout junior season, Stevens decided to return for his senior year, where he will undoubtedly be a leader of the defense.

"He's a leader, he's a smart football player, versatile, I can't say enough about him," Pelini said. "I think JaCoby is going to be a guy that the NFL is going to be standing in line to get this guy on their football team because he can do so many different things. He'll be blitzing for us and then he can play deep and close to the line of scrimmage as well. He's got a lot of potential and he fits our system really well."

Pelini comes from a linebacker background and that was one of the areas that entering the offseason, LSU lacked some depth in after the loss of Patrick Queen and Jacob Phillips. Right now, Pelini has junior Damone Clark at the MIKE linebacker spot, Marcel Brooks and Micah Baskerville are playing WILL but Pelini said most of the players will be interchangeable.

The Tigers just recently signed one of the top available JUCO prospects as well in linebacker Jabril Cox, who should slide into a starting role upon arrival.

"I'm so excited about Damone Clark and Ray Thornton is competing with Damone for that spot," Pelini said. "I like our group and I'm just getting started on getting to know these guys and then we have some other guys coming in. They're going to be coached in a different system, they're going to be asked to do different things but so far I'm happy with the progress they've made.

"Marcel's a kid that has immense potential but he's got a lot to learn just like all of them so I'm hoping we have a lot of depth and that we can play a lot of those guys to keep them fresh."

Pelini said he looks forward to taking the field in the fall but that the main reason he decided to return was the culture of Louisiana and the kids that come from this state.

"I've been fortunate in my career to coach in a lot of different environments, a lot of great environments but LSU was a special place to me," Pelini said. "I loved the people, I love the kids that I coached and the key about LSU is about keeping the kids home.

“The Louisiana kids are high IQ players and they're tough. They come in and they know how to work. It's a culture, it's throughout the whole state and to me there's a reason why LSU has been so great and it's because of that culture that I think that makes this program special. The kids from the state set the culture."